Can't say enough good things about living by yourself, it's a great learning experience. It's tough living with friends, you feel pressure to always do stuff with them and at some point you just break away because you need your own space.

As far as Musical Therapy goes, I was surprised to learn there is a lot of money to be made in it with Autistic children for example. Sounds like a tough field to find a job in, but a good one if you can. I stand corrected.

"To come to your senses, you must first go out of your mind." - Alan Watts

Kristin wrote:nowhere does it say you have to be friends with your roommates.

Amen to that! I had some crappy roommates in college (one who would erase my messages before I came home and listened to them as well as another who was a complete psycho). I was friends with my third roommate - until she started dating one of my friends. She seemed so normal until then, but she started showing her true (insecure/paranoid) nature once they began dating. Luckily I wasn't friends with them before living together, so I didn't really lose any friendships as a result of living with them.

I know several people who thought they should move in with their friends and ended up not being friends anymore because they simply weren't suited to be roommates. If they hadn't moved in together, they would probably still be friends. Luckily I recognized that potential issue with one of my best friends BEFORE we moved in together. I just knew that as well as we got along, he would drive me up a freaking wall if we lived together. When I visited his first apartment, I knew I had done the right thing!

I do think living with the crazy people that the school thought I should live with was a good experience. College is a learning experience, and one thing a lot of freshmen need to learn is that the world doesn't revolve around them. Living with a stranger (as opposed with their parents or siblings) teaches them to compromise, be considerate, pick up after themselves, use good manners - or at least I hope that's what they learn!

Natasha aka candygirl :: MSCL.com

Look, if this is weird for you, being tutored? I don't mind helping you a little longer. You could have sex with me if you really want to help...I guess that's a "no"?

I got mad at the roommates I had last year because I felt decieved and a little used. When I told them my lifestyle and they said they were the same way, I foolishly believed them. Maybe I'm too picky, in fact I probably am, but I don't have a lot of money. I couldn't afford to leave the AC on all the time when it was warm out, like they liked, and I couldn't afford to have the heat on so high when it was cold out, like they liked. I couldn't afford caller ID on the phone, but they got that anyway without disucussing it with me and I had to pay for a third of it. Their lifestyle had them spending a lot more money on leisure stuff than me - I spent most of my money on groceries, school stuff, my car, etc. Part of why I couldn't afford as much as they could was because I paid more in rent than they did since I had my own room and they shared.

During the second semester, I decided to unhook the internet and phone from my room, so I didn't pay for that anymore, which was a big help to my budget. But the thing that really bothered me all year was the temperature. Now, I understand that in places where it get REALLY HOT - like Texas, Florida, Nevada, etc - the AC needs to be on pretty much all day. But it doesn't get so hot in Kansas City, Missouri, not during the school year anyway. It would be in the mid 70s outside (perfect and beautiful) and they would need the AC on. Then, when it cooled down to the lower 60s outside they would need the heat on, and they usually set it to about 74. In Wisconsin, people (well, at least my family and pretty much all the people I know there) don't turn the heat higher than 65 in the dead of winter... 0 - 20 degrees even. Now, does anyone else not see the logic here? If they were comfortable with the temperature being 74, why would they need the AC on when it was 74 outside? I don't think there was one day where AC or heat was OFF.

Phew! [/rant]

Um, in my room, one seam is a little off and I stare at it constantly. It's, like, destroying me.